Smartphones are becoming the must have tool for everything, with apps that let you do everything from start your car or hailing a taxi, to donating to a cause. Yet the feature that shows the most promise and growth is the simple task of texting, not some developer created application.

For the past few years consumers have been able to donate to causes by texting a number. That number then charges their phone bills for the donation. While companies here in the states have not advanced beyond that feature, Vodafone UK has.

Vodafone has taken the concept of charging phone bills for charitable donations and expanded it to cab fare. Londoners can pay for a cab ride with their smartphone by simply texting the cabs license plate number to a specific code. Any owed fares will then be charged to their phone bills. The process sounds super simple and will certainly prevent one from having to find the nearest ATM while the cabby charges for the ride.

If you can charge a cab ride to your phone, it might not be long before you can charge your gas, or a restaurant bill to your phone as well.